Heard It All Before
By Bart Mendoza 

At the age of 14, Anna Troy and her 13-year-old sister Lindsey performed as a duo called the Troys. They cut a demo and landed a major recording contract with Elektra. "The Troys were going to be, like, the next pop stars," Anna says. A music video was made. Singles from the forthcoming record were released. And then, nothing. For whatever reason, the Troys were shelved. When it was all said and done, how did she feel? "Elektra was a great opportunity, but it was a struggle. I wanted to be independent and have control of my art. Ten guys in their 60s in suits telling you what to do? When that was over, it was a humongous relief."

With the Troys on hiatus, Anna set out reinventing herself — as a blues singer. "People actually said that the reason I got signed was because I was cute. The blues was my way of saying I wanted to be respected." She began to collaborate with area blues notables such as Nathan James. The experience exorcised any remnants of adolescence from her voice and added smoke and texture. When I tell her that I wrote her off back then as having dead-ended her career with an irrelevant genre, she replies, "Every great rock band that ever existed, they all played blues."

Nearly a decade after the Elektra boondoggle, Anna Troy is back to making great pop music, this time with a mentor named Greg Douglass. Late of the Steve Miller Band, the elder guitarist has brought a welcome '80s rock feel to the mix, and the new band is a secure nest for Troy's flourishing vocal gifts. The response? For the most part, positive. "Everyone has a different opinion," she says. "But I don't really want to be pigeonholed into a blues category. I'd rather break out of that and head in new directions."

ANNA TROY: The Casbah, Sunday, December 28, 7 p.m. 619-232-4355. No cover.

I teach guitar and ukulele lessons at an excellent guitar shop called The Blue Guitar in Mission Valley!!!! Things are going extremely well and I am always looking to pick up some new students! Any aspiring musicians who would like to learn either instrument, drop me an email and I would love to set up some lessons!!! Here is my bio:

Though only twenty four, guitarist Anna Troy already has a lifetime of experience when it comes to music. A respected guitar instructor, multiple San Diego Music Award Nominee and former Elektra Records recording artist, Troy has seen the ups and downs the music business can offer- perhaps the perfect introduction to the blues. Since the release of her debut solo album, Ain’t No Man (2006) she has kept increasingly busy. Having assembled a crack backing band, her live schedule has seen her perform at major venues including The House of Blues, The Starlight Bowl, The Belly Up Tavern, The California Center for the Performing Arts and The Casbah. Meanwhile the album itself was nominated for "Best Blues Album" in the 2007 San Diego Music Awards. Add in over a dozen press appearances and the same in TV & Radio appearances to her credit and it’s clear that Troy has made an impression. There aren’t many artists whose stylistic range can have them perform on both country radio station KSON as well as indie rock station FM94.9.

She has been teaching guitar for four years, and her students range from beginners and children, to more intermediate players who specifically want to improve their finger picking and blues knowledge. Her lessons consist of instruction in songwriting, singing, rhythm, music theory, ear training and finger picking techniques. She gears each lesson to the individual’s needs and interests, and thus can be successful in teaching a diverse group of students. The main goal in her lessons is to inspire a love and passion for music. She loves teaching children, because she feels it is important for people to gain an appreciation for music at an early age, although musicians of all ages are welcome. She has also recently begun teaching Ukulele, for all those who want to learn how to play this fun, little instrument!

The Blue Guitar 5959 Mission Gorge Rd., San Diego, CA 92120, (619) 283-2700, www.theblueguitar.com

On Dec. 8 KROQ's "Rodney (Bingenheimer) on the Roq" spun Anna Troy's  "If You Still Want Me"!

This is a big deal for us!!! Thank you to everyone who has supported and helped us to get to this point!! Thank you Rodney for playing our song!!!!

What's up everyone!!! Just want to remind you all to come out today to M-Theory Records for a fun acoustic in-store. The show starts at 3pm and M-Theory is an amazing little indie record shop on Washington St. in Mission Hills. Here is the info:

Anna Troy
Sunday, Dec. 7, 3pm
M-Theory Records
915 W Washington St.
San Diego, CA 92103
Next to the Public Library.
Ph) 619-220-0485

Hope to see you there!!

I just wanted to let everyone know that my roommate, Aspasia, has just started doing hair at one of the best salons in San Diego. Aspasia is a creative, conscientious and highly trained stylist! She does hair for most of San Diego's best musicians including Jason Mraz, Gregory Page, and Bart Mendoza!! Check out her flyer and get 50% off your first cut, this is a great opportunity to pamper yourself for the holidays!!!!!!!

On her own, Troy ready for national audience

By JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer- North County Times- Wed, Nov. 6

The typical reaction many budding musicians get from their parents when they announce, usually in their teens, that they want to be musicians as an adult pursuit, ranges from outright panic to gentle bemusement.

Anna Troy's parents are not typical.

When she and her younger sister, Lindsey, decided in their early teens that they were going to play music for a living, it was more parental wish fulfillment than youthful defiance.

"My dad is a humongous Deadhead," Anna Troy said by phone from her San Diego home. "He's been to over 300 Dead shows. Somewhere in the back of his mind he always wanted his kids to be rock stars. My sister and I both started taking piano at 4; we took lessons for eight years. I started guitar at 12."

And so when they started their first band a short time after Anna picked up a guitar, "It was really natural for us.

"We started our band when I was like 13 or 14, and she was 12 or so. At the time, our dad was playing guitar with us and it was the three of us."

Within six months, however, Anna and Lindsey were a duo. And within two years of that, they had a record deal with Elektra, the same label that had once signed the Doors.

Performing in 2002 as the Troys, Anna and Lindsey were primed to become the Next Big Thing.

"We recorded an album, filmed a video, did promos with radio stations around the country. Then, right before the album was supposed to come out, things got really funky. Our project got dropped."

The album was never released, and Anna and Lindsey eventually got out of their Elektra contract.

The past five years have seen both Troy sisters become active members of San Diego's acoustic and rock music scenes. In 2006, both sisters released albums ---- and Anna has her second solo album ("Wait Another Day") coming out next week.

While looking forward to a series of upcoming regional tours and trying to get her new independently released album perhaps picked up by a larger indie label, Troy (who teaches guitar full time to support her music performance career) does allow that the Elektra experience taught her and her sister a lot about the business side of music.

For starters, the master copies of their 2002 album are still sitting in a warehouse somewhere in Los Angeles. But Troy said neither she nor Lindsey particularly mourns that album.

"They were trying to make us into Avril Lavigne clones, and I honestly don't think I'd have any use for those songs now ---- and my sister is the same way."

While her solo debut, 2006's "Ain't No Man," was intentionally a blues album ("I was heavily into blues for two or three years"), Troy said she was ready to move in a new direction with the new one.

"After my last record, I got to a point where I had writer's block and I wasn't inspired to write any more blues songs."

After a few months, Troy said she wanted to start writing whatever came to her.

"I started writing new songs, and they were turning out more in a pop vein, more like what I was doing as a teenager, which I thought was interesting. Then I met Greg Douglass ---- once I met him, the album took on a life of its own.

"He and I started co-writing, and he's the best songwriter I ever worked with outside of my sister. He influenced me to not be afraid to write stuff that's catchy. We co-wrote five songs on this new record, and it took what I planned on making ---- which was an indie rock album ---- took that into more of a classic rock vein, which I thought was really cool."

After Nov. 12's headlining show at the Belly Up Tavern, Troy said she wants to start back on building a national audience ---- but on her own terms, not those of the suits at a major label.

"My goal would be to get on a decent-sized indie label and start touring. Touring is something I haven't done yet. I've had a great time playing in San Diego, but I feel like it's time for me to get out of San Diego and get other people familiar with my music."

Anna Troy, with Gunplay Maxwell and Gayle Skidmore

When: 8 p.m. Nov. 12

Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach

Admission: $8

Info: (858)481-8140 or bellyup.com

Web: myspace.com/annatroy

I am so appreciative of this nomination!! It coincides with the release of my new album "Wait Another Day" set to be released October 4th at The Bar Pink Elephant!! Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen, your support means everything to me!

Voting ends August 31st, so don't forget to vote at www.sandiegomusicawards.com

Anna